Results 17,041-17,060 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2009: Committee Stage (29 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I cannot give a commitment to put into legislation something that benefits just one company. That would not be possible. It would have an enormous knock-on effect for other companies. It may even be illegal to put something into legislation which is for the benefit of one company.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2009: Committee Stage (29 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I regret I cannot give that commitment because the liability that would fall on the State would be far greater than any of us would be able to meet.

Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: As Deputies will be aware, the rates of child benefit have increased significantly since 2001, having trebled for the first two children and increased by over 185% for the third and subsequent children. Partly as a result of this and partly as a result of an increase in the number of eligible children, overall expenditure on child benefit grew from just under £760 million - the equivalent...

Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The real case the Deputy outlined is a particularly difficult one for that family. Notwithstanding that the mother will get one year's free preschooling for each of her children, there is a considerable income loss for her and I appreciate that. We would be very conscious of that in whatever decisions we take in the next budget, bearing in mind what has happened in this one. The two...

Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I certainly will. There are many issues relating to child benefit. It has been a universal payment for a very long time. There were some years during which the tax credit given for children was reduced on account of benefit and so at one stage there was a link between tax and child benefit but it was eased out. There are people who depend on child benefit and even those who do not depend...

Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I know, but it makes life very difficult when one is trying to find a balance when people who are not dependent on social welfare are taking drops in their income. We must ensure we do not have a disincentive for them to go on social welfare and be better off there. That will be the overall principle but it is too early to say what will happen in its regard in the future. There are...

Pension Provisions. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Since the Green Paper on pensions was published in October 2007, the economic landscape has changed significantly in Ireland and the rest of the world. This has resulted in significant difficulties for pension scheme members, trustees and employers, related to the collapse in equity values and significant losses in pension funds. Given these changed circumstances, the Government has moved to...

Pension Provisions. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The measures taken in recent months were obviously to deal with the current difficulties that have arisen and were not designed for the long term. The framework document will deal with the long-term issues. Other countries that have introduced long-term frameworks have set out a timescale for their commencement. For example, the UK measure will not start before 2012. The measures we will...

Pension Provisions. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The State pension is at the core of the Government's provision. The value of the State pension is €5.4 billion, and it is certainly at the core of what we do. The increases in the level of the State pension in recent years has certainly helped to support pensions. For the future, we must ensure individuals also take responsibility to supplement that and to ensure private personal...

Pension Provisions. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: It is interesting in reading the submissions to find that the unions are all saying-----

Pension Provisions. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: People have different perspectives on this and because there was no consensus it was not easy to come up with an approach. Nonetheless, we are trying to determine what the balance should be for the future, how we can support people and have a more balanced approach in terms of tax reliefs, the benefit to the individual of the State pension, and so on, while at the same time ensuring more...

Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The recent supplementary budget provided that payments currently being made to existing rent supplement tenants be reduced by 8% with effect from 1 June 2009 in the expectation that landlords will reduce their rents, given the reductions in rent levels in the private rental market as a whole. While tenants may be contractually obliged to pay the rent agreed to in their lease, it is expected...

Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: There is no reason anybody should be homeless as a result of this. Landlords throughout the country are reducing rent where the tenant seeks a renegotiation because people have taken a drop in their income. I have yet to meet anybody whose rent has not been reduced because of a change in their personal circumstances. Landlords are the first to know that the market is such that they cannot...

Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I did not answer the Deputy's first question on rent limits throughout the country. Accepting that rents in some areas have come down by a lot more, it is our intention when setting the new rent limits to ensure we take that into account. Some will come down further, in particular where there is much availability of accommodation. Where there is limited availability, we will probably...

Departmental Staff. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Department's facilitators work with social welfare recipients of working age, including people in receipt of jobseeker's payments, people parenting alone, people in receipt of disability welfare payments and people providing care, to promote participation and social inclusion. Facilitators work with customers to identify appropriate training or development programmes which will enhance...

Departmental Staff. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I would like to see both but I am not sure how many more facilitators we will be able to get in the immediate term given that we have so many other staff coming in for progressing, control, inspection etc. As I indicated, the facilitators mostly concentrate on people on the live register. We must remember that when the first facilitators were appointed, they dealt with people on the live...

Departmental Staff. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I do not have figures for July and August 2008, when the officials in question were very active. They have dealt with 10,000 new cases since September 2008. That was the real focus. The fact there has been an increase in the number of people availing of the back to education scheme is evidence of that. That was a successful project. It is an example of the success that can be achieved...

Departmental Staff. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: As part of its reform of the health sector, the Government has decided to transfer responsibility for the General Register Office, for certain disability-related income support schemes and for the administration of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme and associated staff, including community welfare officers, from the Health Service Executive to the Department of Social and Family...

Departmental Staff. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Department of Social and Family Affairs has assumed responsibility for new applications under the domiciliary care allowance scheme. Responsibility for existing applications will transfer to the Department in September. That is separate from the supplementary welfare scheme.

Departmental Staff. (30 Apr 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The transfer of responsibility for the supplementary welfare scheme is conditional on the agreement of staff. Approximately 1,000 officials will transfer to the Department of Social and Family Affairs. It is a huge transfer for them. It is a huge logistical operation for the Department. Its total number of staff will increase to approximately 5,300. I do not doubt it will lead to greater...